Illustrative Image
On August 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its armed forces had carried out a large-scale precision strike using long-range high-precision weapons and attack drones against a Ukrainian oil refinery supplying fuel to military units in Donbass. The statement emphasized that the designated target was successfully hit.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the attack involved 280 aerial assets, including 270 Geran-type drones and decoy UAVs launched from Kursk, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk directions in Russia, as well as five Iskander-M ballistic missiles fired from Rostov, Voronezh, and Crimea. Additionally, five Kh-101 cruise missiles were launched from strategic bombers over the Caspian Sea. Ukrainian air defenses allegedly intercepted 236 targets, including 230 drones, two Iskander-M missiles, and four Kh-101 missiles. Despite these efforts, four missiles and 40 drones struck 16 locations, with debris from intercepted projectiles causing damage in three other areas.
Strategic Targets Destroyed
Devastating Russian strikes on military, energy and logistics facilities were recorded across eastern and central regions of Ukraine. One of the most massive waves of strikes targeted the Poltava region.
In Kremenchuk, Poltava region, a combined drone and missile assault pounded the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery, a key fuel supplier for Ukrainian forces. According to preliminary reports, sixteen Geran-2 drones struck oil blending units and catalytic reformers essential for producing aviation fuel, followed by Kh-101 missiles hitting pump stations and heat exchangers. The resulting explosions and fires destroyed storage tanks and pipelines, halting production and reducing fuel supplies to Ukrainian troops by 25-30%, according to preliminary estimations.
Further strikes in Poltava region damaged the Lubny gas compressor station in Peski, a critical node in the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline that provides for the needs of the entire central Ukraine. The attack of 18 UAVS disabled at least three out of five gas-pumping units and disrupted gas transit. The fire has spread to the distribution collectors, the gas flow was blocked. The facility has been completely shut down.
In Chernihiv region, Russian drones struck the 332nd Rocket Arsenal in Priluki, detonating stored munitions, including R-27R1 and R-73E air-to-air missiles, as well as Kh-25ML guided bombs.
One of the Iskander-M strikes hit a former radio station in Kalinovka, Odessa region, repurposed as a temporary base for the 530th Security Battalion. Russian missile destroyed the building, which housed R-419L1 relay systems, Harris RF-7800W satellite stations, and SDMO T22K field generators. The strike reportedly killed 12 servicemen, including communications officers, and wounded 18 others, severing critical command links between the 19th Army Corps and units in Odessa and Mykolaiv.
A large fire broke out at the Tereshchenskaya railway station in the village of Voronezh in the Sumy region, turned by the Ukrainian military into a logistics hub.
Retaliation for Ukrainian Provocations
The resumption of Russian devastating strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure is largely a response to Ukrainian provocations. They followed Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, including the Nikolskoe station in Tambov region, one of the hubs along the Druzhba oil pipeline supplying Europe attacked on August 18. LINK
Russia had previously reduced strike intensity ahead of diplomatic talks but resumed operations after Putin’s meeting with Trump and responded to Ukrainian provocations. The latest wave of attacks underscores Moscow’s strategy of retaliating against infrastructure supporting Kyiv’s war effort while avoiding escalation that could derail potential negotiations. The strikes demonstrate that while diplomacy may be pursued at the negotiating table, military pressure remains a decisive tool in shaping the conflict’s trajectory.
this is making big headlines in the uk with uk media heavily criticising mr.putin and russia and western radar and forces in some countries put on standby. its amazing that little is said about the many civilian dead in russia due to zelensky,s war.
sawyer and piecelickcock humiliated by russian superiority deported to tel aviv gay bar by trump
“ukrainian air defenses allegedly intercepted 236 targets, including 230 drones, two iskander-m missiles, and four kh-101 missiles.”
let me guess: the ghost of kiev intercepted all of them…
odpoveď za útoky na ruskú infraštruktúru prišla okamžite. to je za ten ropovod družba ktorý dodával ropu na slovensko a do maďarska. je to špatné a bude to ešte horšie. treba vyčkať času, jak hus klasu. mysleniu zdar a svetu mier!!!
this is climate apocalypse!